Some fear medical mart deal could damage local film industry

John Kuntz/The Plain DealerA film crew gets ready to shoot an action scene for "Spider-Man 3" in Playhouse Square in 2006. The filmmakers were persuaded to film in Cleveland in part because they were able to get space in the Cleveland Convention Center for building props and sets.

CLEVELAND — Cleveland's budding film industry will suffer a damaging blow if a medical mart project moves into the city's old convention center as planned, a local film executive says.

Ivan Schwarz, executive director of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, contends that the downtown center is just the kind of space that filmmakers want -- but rarely find outside of Hollywood -- for use as movie soundstages.

"There's nothing like this available in the United States," he said during a recent interview. "That just puts us on the map instantaneously."

But the medical mart project stands in the way. Cuyahoga County commissioners envision converting the city-owned center into a $425 million complex that includes a new convention center and a medical mart that would serve as a shopping center for medical equipment.

The progress on the project -- commissioners signed an agreement this month with a developer to build and operate the complex and are negotiating to buy the property from the city -- comes just as Cleveland prepares its launch into the film industry.

A New York-based production company recently signed a one-year, rent-free lease for 17,000 square feet of the convention center. Nehst Studios is ready to begin filming as soon as the state passes a tax incentive plan for movie and television productions. State lawmakers could approve a plan this summer.

Other producers already have used the convention hall for television commercials featuring LeBron James and bits of "Spider-Man 3."

Schwarz, a Hollywood veteran who has scouted filming locations for the HBO show "Entourage," said the convention hall could accommodate any size movie, from a big-budget James Bond feature to an independent film with much less to spend.

Between the underground exhibition space and Public Hall, the complex has enough room for three soundstages -- open space where filmmakers can build sets -- and for post-production work such as film editing.

Lisa DeJong/The Plain DealerThe historic Music Hall, which is on Cleveland's convention center property, could be attractive to movies similar to "The Prestige," a local film executive said.

The center's downtown locale could be especially attractive to young workers. Schwarz said more than 5,000 jobs could be created if the convention hall is available over the next five years.

Caitlin Ringness, a location manager who has worked in Los Angeles and in Cleveland on "The Soloist," a major-studio motion picture that opened Friday, said the convention hall has tremendous potential.

"It's this raw, open space where film companies can come in and build whatever they need," she said.

Schwarz said the alternative is to build a new studio complex, a costly undertaking. He noted that a developer has committed to spending $146 million to build a studio in a Detroit suburb.

The city has pledged to relocate the Nehst studio if the convention center is sold. And Mayor Frank Jackson's chief of staff, Ken Silliman, said the likely schedule for the medical mart project gives filmmakers at least a year to prove their industry has a future in Cleveland.

County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones said the lag time before the convention center is demolished allows for both the medical mart and Cleveland's film industry to succeed. Jones, who has acted in local theater productions, echoed Silliman's commitment to finding Nehst a new home if it is displaced.

"We'll make sure that they'll have a home and continue to operate here on the North Coast," he said.

Nehst (pronounced "next") founder Larry Meistrich downplayed the center's importance to his company's success. He said that he is trying to establish a film industry in Ohio and that passage of the tax incentive plan is necessary.

"The physical space is one minor part of that," Meistrich said. "The convention center's great. But it's not the end-all or be-all."

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